40-14-348. Loan finance charge.

(a) With respect to a supervised loan, including a loan pursuant to a revolving loan account, and except as provided for pawnbrokers under W.S. 40-14-360(a) and post-dated check cashers under W.S. 40-14-363(a), a supervised lender may contract for and receive a loan finance charge not exceeding that permitted by this section.

(b) The loan finance charge, calculated according to the actuarial method, may not exceed:

(i) Where the initial principal does not exceed seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00), the equivalent of the greater of either of the following:

(A) The total of: Thirty-six percent (36%) per year on that part of the unpaid balances of the principal which is one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or less and twenty-one percent (21%) per year on that part of the unpaid balances of the principal which is more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00); or

(B) Twenty-one percent (21%) per year on that part of the unpaid balances of the principal.

(C) Repealed by Laws 1981, ch. 147, § 2.

(ii) Where the initial principal exceeds seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000.00), any loan finance charge specified in the debtor's loan agreement.

(c) This section does not limit or restrict the manner of contracting for the loan finance charge, whether by way of add-on, discount, single annual percentage rate or otherwise, so long as the rate of the loan finance charge does not exceed that permitted by this section. The finance charge may be contracted for and earned at the single annual percentage rate that would earn the same finance charge as the graduated rates when the debt is paid according to the agreed terms and the calculations are made according to the actuarial method. If the loan is precomputed:

(i) The loan finance charge may be calculated on the assumption that all scheduled payments will be made when due; and

(ii) The effect of prepayment is governed by the provisions on rebate upon prepayment (W.S. 40-14-319).

(d) The term of a loan for the purposes of this section commences on the date the loan is made. Differences in the lengths of months are disregarded and a day may be counted as one-thirtieth of a month. Subject to classifications and differentiations the lender may reasonably establish, a part of a month in excess of fifteen (15) days may be treated as a full month if periods of fifteen (15) days or less are disregarded and that procedure is not consistently used to obtain a greater yield than would otherwise be permitted.

(e) Subject to classifications and differentiations the lender may reasonably establish, he may make the same loan finance charge on all principal amounts within a specified range. A loan finance charge so made does not violate subsection (b) of this section, if:

(i) When applied to the median amount within each range, it does not exceed the maximum permitted in subsection (b) of this section; and

(ii) When applied to the lowest amount within each range, it does not produce a rate of loan finance charge exceeding the rate calculated according to paragraph (b)(i) of this section by more than eight percent (8%) of the rate calculated according to paragraph (b)(i) of this section.